Don Quixote

ors of all the mischief, were, and right willingly she gave them. They all went in, the housekeeper wit

of holy water and a sprinkler, saying, “Here, your worship, senor licentiate, sprinkle this room; don’t leave any ma

e barber to give him the books one by one to see what they were about, as there

urt and make a pile of them and set fire to them; or else carry them into the yard, and there a bonfire can be made without the smoke giving any annoyance.” The house

he curate, “for, as I have heard say, this was the first book of chivalry printed in Spain, and from this all the others derive

the best of all the books of this kind that have been written, an

on let its life be spared for the present.

e ‘Sergas de Esplandian,’ the

he account of the son. Take it, mistress housekeeper; open the window and fling it

e worthy “Esplandian” went flying into the yard to awa

” said th

madis of Greece,’ and, indeed, I believe all th

stra, and the shepherd Darinel and his eclogues, and the bedevilled and involved discourses of his author

same mind,” s

I,” added

e housekeeper, “here, i

many of them, she spared herself the stairc

tub there?” s

arber, “is ‘Don Ol

’ and truly there is no deciding which of the two books is the more truthful, or, to put it

‘Florismarte of Hircan

e yard, in spite of his marvellous birth and visionary adventures, for the stiffness and drynes

” said she, and executed t

barber, “is The

ind no reason for clemency in it; send it aft

d they saw it was entitled,

rate, “its ignorance might be excused; but then, they say,

the barber said, “This is

istorian Turpin; however, I am not for condemning them to more than perpetual banishment, because, at any rate, they have some share in the invention of the famous Matteo Boiardo, whence too the Christ

an,” said the barber, “but

nother language, for, with all the pains they take and all the cleverness they show, they never can reach the level of the originals as they were first produced. In short, I say that this book, and all that may be found treating of those French affairs, should be thrown into or deposited in some dry well, unt

no ashes even are left; and let that Palm of England be kept and preserved as a thing that stands alone, and let such another case be made for it as that which Alexander found among the spoils of Darius and set aside for the safe keeping of the works of the poet Homer. This book, gossip, is of authority for two reasons, first because it is very good, and secondly because it is said to have been written by a wise and witty kin

r, “for this that I have here

t be cleared of all that stuff about the Castle of Fame and other greater affectations, to which end let them be allowed the over-seas term, and, accord

to take all the big ones and throw them into the yard. It was not said to one dull or deaf, but to one who enjoyed burning them

he barber, who took it up, curious to know whose it was, and f

bold Tirante fought with the mastiff, and the witticisms of the damsel Placerdemivida, and the loves and wiles of the widow Reposada, and the empress in love with the squire Hipolito — in truth, gossip, by right of its style it is the best book in the world. Here knights eat and sleep, and die in their beds, an

“but what are we to do with th

, and, supposing all the others to be of the same sort, “these,” he said, “do not deserve to be burned like the others, for

if, after being cured of his chivalry disorder, my uncle, by reading these, took a fancy to turn shepherd and range the woods an

th the ‘Diana’ of Montemayor. I am of opinion it should not be burned, but that it should be cleared of all that about the sage Felicia and the mag

’ entitled the ‘Second Part, by the Salamancan,’ and thi

ber of the condemned in the yard, and let Gil Polo’s be preserved as if it came

“is the ten books of the ‘Fortune of Love,’ w

as this has never been written, and in its way it is the best and the most singular of all of this species that have as yet appeared, and he who has not read it may

ent on, “These that come next are ‘The Shepherd of Iberia,’

and them over to the secular arm of the housekeeper

s the ‘Pasto

but a highly polished courtier; let

the barber, “is called ‘The

ed and cleansed of certain vulgarities which it has with its excellences; let it be preserved because the

rber, “is the ‘Cancioner

all who hear them, for such is the sweetness of his voice that he enchants when he chants them: it gives rather too much of its ecl

Miguel de Cervante

good invention in it, it presents us with something but brings nothing to a conclusion: we must wait for the Second Part it promises: perhaps with amendmen

a’ of Don Alonso de Ercilla, the ‘Austriada’ of Juan Rufo, Justice of Cor

Castilian in heroic verse, and they may compare with the most famous of Italy;

decided that, “contents uncertified,” all the rest should be burned;

dered that book to be burned, for its author was one of the famous poets of the world

which the Curate and The Barber made i